Yea, this is what we were talking about. Waze "learns" your destinations. Not necessarily your routes.

I also found that it seems to remember where you go on which days and offers that as a destination when Waze starts up. But again, it does not learn the route(s) you take most frequently, but it does learn the destinations.

When talking to my brother-in-law I said he should try Waze. He said he pretty much knows where he's going and how to get there. To that end, Waze is supposed to find the fastest or shortest route to get you to your destination. Among other variables, it calculates the fastest/shortest, based on current traffic and other conditions, and past timing for those routes, etc.

The beauty here is that instead of instructing you to take the route you always take and pushing you into a giant traffic mess (say there is some extraordinary circumstance) it suggests you take an alternate. I've learned to take the route Waze suggests. Albeit, how big of a difference can multiple routes of a 5-mile trip make? Well, yesterday I didn't listen, and drove myself right into a giant jam. Instead of 4 minutes early, I was 3 minutes late.

The segments within any given route, and how they're configured, can effect the choices Waze makes too.

This means that a given route may not have been configured in the most optimal fashion based on Waze's routing algorithm.

So, take a look at the map based on the multiple routes. Again, the beauty of being able to edit the map is that you're actually on the ground, frequently. Allowing you to enable the system to provide the most efficient route. Then you let Waze calculate the other conditions. Now you have a very effective navigation application.

From the FAQ... Why doesn't Waze learn my routes?

The setting within the Waze app, "Auto-learn routes to frequent destinations" is misleading. Waze only learns your favorite destinations, but does not learn or store actual routes. It will pop-up with the "Are going home?" or "going to work?" messages for these frequented destinations.

Waze should always pick what it believes is, mathematically, the fastest or shortest route, depending on your settings. If, in your estimation, it doesn't, that means that there could be an error in the map somewhere along your preferred route, or there is a lack of correct speed/traffic data for that route, or lack or correct speed/traffic data on the route it is trying to send you on. If it isn't too far out of your way, take the suggested route a few times and Waze will collect and start to use that data in its routing decisions.

The reason just driving the expected or preferred route won't work automatically is because Waze could have incorrect speed data on the segments it wants you to take. If Waze thinks another road is 2x as fast as your preferred road, no amount of driving on your preferred road can change the data for the other road. Waze needs accurate data for all neighboring segments and routes in order to always compute the fastest (or shortest, depending on your app setting) route.

Thanks, Auto-learn routes... to me, says, I will figure out which route you'd like to take based on the routes you take over time. For what it offers, I wish the function-label was something like... "Remember destinations?" But you can see how that would go. How many destinations? On which days? Which one to chose first? etc.

On another note, you could take the undesired route and poke along enough times to force the routing algorithm to chose a more favorable route. Ha, I started to erase that based on the likelihood that somebody would go to all that trouble.Wit

Waze will learn where you're going on a regular basis. For instance, if you leave for work everyday and start the trip by entering "work" as your destination, Waze will offer that as a destination. Perhaps if the application offered an option to remember your destination rather than your route might help with user-comprehension.

I try to trust Waze's judgement. It's not that I don't know how to get where I'm going all of time, it's that I would like to get there the quickest. That's what Waze is trying to do.Further, think about the required logic that would have to be baked in to accommodate crossing a double-lane roadway, with no light, at a sharp curve, and a hill blocking the view.

Even when I just simply don't want to go the route Waze is telling me to go I just go the way I want. Again, it's all about routing you "around" delays (providing that is your choice, i.e. "fastest", "shortest").So, experiment; see how the destination-time changes once Waze recalculates when you don't follow the suggested route. The algorithm can't be perfect for every situation, but it's the best that I've found.

When I suggest people try Waze, they always tell me that they know how to get where they're going most of the time. I insist that the genius is the real-time routing more so than the "how do I get there" part.

For more fun, listen to the Text-To-Speech (TTS) then go look at the map to see why/how it does what it does.

Wytch13 wrote:I have been using Waze for over a year and I take my "preferred route" everyday, yet Waze still tries to direct me the long way around. It has never learned my route. Also, when I take an alternative route (not necessarily turn-by-turn as Waze advised, but workarounds in some segments of the route I may have found on my own), I would like to be able to save that route. Sometimes it's so complicated to get around known bottlenecks in my area, I can't remember what I did from one week to the next. Is there any way to save an Alternate Route that worked out particularly well??

I think this entry is the closest to the problem I am experiencing. on my way to work in the morning Waze tries to get me to drive the long way, approximately 9.2 miles, instead of the 6.7 mile route that I like to drive. Now in all fairness both routes take approximately the same time, 14 minutes. The longer route gets me to the highway sooner, so even though the length of the drive is longer it takes the same time as the shorter route I like to drive. In addition, in the afternoon when driving home, during rush hour traffic most of the time, I still like to take the same route home that I take to work. However Waze tries to suggest two other routes; one is further up the highway, first offered, and the other is along my preferred route yet slightly longer, second offered and approximately 6.9 miles long, and again approximately 14 minutes. Now I think that I have a couple of issues; Waze does not seem to be 'learning' MY route and Waze is offering routes that may/may not be better routes. What I would like to know is can I force or save my preferred route in Waze? When I find a route that does not seem to be the best route because of one reason or another is there a way to help Waze learn to pick a better route? My thoughts are that my preferred route has less lights and stops than the Waze suggested route which would more often than not take longer.

Waze noob here but I'll chip in my $.02 based on my drive to/from work. I live in Lawrenceville, GA and drive to/from Norcross, GA daily. Depending on the route it's 14-16 miles. Anyone who lives around Atlanta knows rush hour(s) traffic is brutal. When I first moved here I used Google Navigation and it had me take the main roads (316 and 85) to and from work. I quickly learned I am much better off taking smaller roads. Sure, I might take 316/85 and make it to work in 25 minutes but if there is an accident or rain or a car stalled or a cop or construction that 30 minutes turned into 60-90 minutes (not exaggerating). I experimented with side roads and found a route that takes me 25-30 minutes without the risk of getting stuck in a 4-7 lane parking lot 316 and 85 can become.

On to my point. I fired up Waze on the way to work to see what route it recommended. As expected, it said 316/85. No thanks! However, it's important to mention the exit to 316 is on the way to my own preferred route so Waze would still think I am taking the advised route. On the way Waze alerted me there was congestion on the route and traffic reports on the radio confirmed a backup on 316. Despite the many smaller road alternatives, Waze did not change the recommended route to avoid the known congestion. I took my preferred route and made it to work in 25 minutes.

One odd route recommendation I should mention. Near the end of my own preferred route to work I am on a two lane road and cross a much more busy 4 land road with a light at the intersection. Waze wanted me to take a right through a neighborhood before the intersection which would bring me out to the busy 4 land road where I would have to make a left across traffic. I can understand avoiding a light if the road isn't busy but that is never going to be the case at the time.

I know I'm a noob and this probably comes across as a rant but I don't mean it that way. I like Waze. A lot. The routing seems to be as good or better than Google Navigation with the bonus of user reported hazards, police activity, traffic, etc.

I have been using Waze for over a year and I take my "preferred route" everyday, yet Waze still tries to direct me the long way around. It has never learned my route. Also, when I take an alternative route (not necessarily turn-by-turn as Waze advised, but workarounds in some segments of the route I may have found on my own), I would like to be able to save that route. Sometimes it's so complicated to get around known bottlenecks in my area, I can't remember what I did from one week to the next. Is there any way to save an Alternate Route that worked out particularly well??

kuduboet wrote:It will be great when it finally truly learns a users preferred route.

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I think waze learns your driving pattern to your favourite destination based on the time you turn on the client.

I experienced this every time I turn on waze say at 1pm, it will prompt me whether I'm going to the restaurant which I always go to for my lunch and at 5.30pm it will prompt me whether I'm going home. At 9.45pm it will prompt me whether I'm going to the tuition centre which again I always go to fetch my kids back from tuition.

IMO that waze do not learn your routing pattern but learns your destination pattern based on time of the day you turn on the client.

Obviously until the functionality is promoted to the app Waze devs need to remove the language under Routes that states, "Teach Waze your preferred routes driving by driving them several times." That clearly means if you drive a particular route several times Waze will learn it and begin to learn it as an option. The statement does not at all mean, even imply, drive the routes Waze recommends so it can collect traffic data and perhaps one day it will accumulate enough to realize another route is faster (see FAQ on this topic).